Happily Ever After
by ee-ii-ee-ii-oo
Summary: "Just say yes ..." As he said it, he did what she'd dreamed about, yearned for, cried about since he walked out her door the night she'd bared her soul to him. It surprised her as she felt his lips press against hers, and right there in her foyer it was as if the past few months just slipped away. Post-Proposal Juliette and Avery fluff.


**Happily ... Ever ... After**

Finally got around to watching the winter finale and it made me so happy. I immediately re-watched it. Then I wrote this, because I knew there had to be a conversation between the proposal and the wedding. This is my interpretation of what that conversation was. This is unabashed Juliette and Avery fluff ... enjoy!

ABC, Callie and Lionsgate own everything. Just borrowing.

Please let me know what you think in the reviews.

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><p><em>"Just say yes ..."<em>

As he said it, he did what she'd dreamed about, yearned for, cried about since he walked out her door the night she'd bared her soul to him. It surprised her as she felt his lips press against hers, and right there in her foyer it was as if the past few months just slipped away. They were right back where they were before ... everything. Before Jeff. Before the baby. Before their feeble attempt at being 'just friends.'

"Yes," she whispered, trembling slightly despite the warmth of his hands on her cheeks. She sniffled, unable to hold the tears at bay. Meeting his blue eyes, seeing the confidence and love exuding from his face, she nodded, repeating the word with more strength. "Yes."

It was a feeling of peace. Of the world being set back on its axis once again. What had been so wrong was right again. Again their lips met and the passion they both thought they'd lost forever came rushing back to them.

Hours later, the feeling of his heart beating against her hand assured her that this wasn't some dream about him like the ones she'd been having way too often as of late. She snuggled further into his arms and looked up to meet his stare. He kissed her forehead softly and pulled her closer. "What are you thinking about?" he asked quietly, as he ran his hands up and down her spine.

"Trying to convince myself that this is real. Things like this don't happen to me." She sat up, pulling the white sheet around her chest. He could tell by the look on her face that a cloud of uncertainty was starting to form around her. He expected as much. He knew her better than she knew herself, even after all this time. "Avery, are you sure this is what you want to do?" she questioned him in a whisper, unable to look him in the eyes. "Is it just about the baby?"

"Juliette, look at me." He waited for her to comply, which she did slowly. He took her hands in his. "I love you. I never stopped. I tried. I tried everything I could think of to make myself forget that I loved you. Nothing worked. Not even being angry did it. When I said I forgave you, I meant it. But ... I was scared. I heard you when you said you weren't going to hurt me again. At that point I just didn't want to admit that I heard you. That I believed you. But I did. I do. I trust you. So no, this isn't just about the baby." He let out a sigh and hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "Before everything went to crap, I was a week, maybe two at most, from getting down on my hands and knees and begging you to be with me forever." He pulled her hands to his lips and gently pressed a soft kiss to her left hand then her right. "The way I see it, we are just picking up right where we left off."

At that moment, the baby gave Juliette a swift kick to her protruding belly, peeking out from beneath the sheet. Juliette smiled at him, fighting tears. "Not exactly where we left off." She moved his hands over her stomach, and he inhaled deeply at the feeling of his daughter moving inside her.

"That amazes me every time."

Juliette giggled little as she laid back down into his embrace. "I think we woke her up from a nap. It seems like she gets grouchy after she wakes up."

"Where on earth would she get that from," he asked, cheeky grin on his face and eyebrows raised.

She playfully smacked his shoulder with the back of her hand. "Stop it. I'm serious. She'll go from not moving at all to kicking me like she's practicing to be a Rockette one day. Plus," Juliette added wistfully, "she's really not used to being woken up like ... that."

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "For the next month, she'd better get used to it." He leaned over her and grabbed his phone from the night stand behind her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Checking to see what time the courthouse opens tomorrow."

Juliette's jaw dropped open. "Wait ... What? You want to do this tomorrow? You're crazy. I've got to be at Rayna's wedding tomorrow night, plus I have nothing to wear. We don't have rings ..."

He paused long enough to stare at her for a second as she rambled on about looking like a whale in white for wedding photos. Shaking he head, he couldn't help but smile at her. "Courthouse opens at 10am."

She stopped talking and just looked at him, eyes wide, as if he was insane.

Avery shrugged as if it was obvious. "We'll stop by a jewelry store on the way, pick up some rings, and quite frankly, I don't care if you wear the ugliest, most comfortable pair of pajamas in your closet. You'll look beautiful no matter what. I don't want to wait."

"You're serious."

"You _don't_ want to marry me tomorrow?" He questioned, knowing that she wouldn't back out.

"I'd marry you right this second if I could. It's just happening so fast. A few hours ago, I was certain you were walking out of my life ... the baby's life ... forever. Now you've convinced me to get married in six hours. How did we get here?"

Smiling at her, he slipped out of the bed and grabbed his boxers from the floor, pulling them on as he exited the room. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Hold on," he said as he returned, carrying one of the boxes from the table beside the front door. He sat down beside her on the edge of the bed and opened the box, pulling a book from its contents. He flipped over a few pages. "Read this."

Juliette looked down at the baby book Sandra had sent.

_"Once upon a time there lived a very special mommy._  
><em>Her name was <em>_ _ _ _<em> ._  
><em>She was very pretty and she was mine!<em>  
><em>She was born in _<em> _ _ _<em>, and her birthday was ___ _ _ __.  
><em>There was also an awesome daddy.<em>  
><em>His name was <em>__ _ _ __.  
><em>He was the best ever and he was mine!<em>  
><em>He was born in <em>_ _ _ _<em>, and his birthday was ___ _ _ __.  
><em>Daddy and Mommy loved me very much and we lived happily ever after."<em>

She bit her lip, working to keep her emotions at bay. Her fight proved futile as a lone tear found its way to her cheek. Avery reached down and wiped it away with his thumb. "You know what I thought about when I read that?"

She shook her head. "No. What?"

"The first time you kissed me." He watched her closely as she thought back. "The Edgehill party?"

She rolled her eyes at the fuzzy memory of that night. "That feels like an eternity ago. How is it possible that it was really just a little more than a year ago?"

"But at the same time, it feels like it was yesterday," he responded, shrugging his shoulder. He took her hand, mindlessly rubbing his thumb across her palm. "Do you remember the conversation we had after your performance?"

She giggled. "Hmmm ... my recollection is a little shaky, but I think we talked about fairy tales."

"Mm hmm," he nodded. "You asked me if I believed in fairy tales like the one about the glamorous star who keeps kissing frog after frog after frog. I told you that you were mixing them up."

"Little did I know," Juliette sat up and moved closer to him. "My prince was sitting right next to me."

For a moment they just sat there, lost in each other's stare. It was as if they were the only two people on earth, suddenly taken back in time. Wordlessly, he picked up a pen that was sitting on the beside table. Without a word, he filled in the first blank. _Juliette_. And the fourth blank. _Avery_.

She pulled the pen from his hand and tossed it to the side and she closed the gap between them. "And they lived happily..." she whispered, kissing his forehead ... "ever" moving her lips to the tip of his nose. Then lowering her lips to his ... "after."

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><p>There we go. My first post-proposal story. Please leave a review...<p> 


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